Here is a quick rundown of the events of yesterday. I worked most of the day. Kim and I went to lunch at our favorite restaurant, Trattoria da Ezio. It was our first time back there since we had the students' welcome dinner on the 9th. In the evening, I went with Jackie to the Lube volleyball game. Macerata Lube won 3-2 over Modena in a very tight match. As a matter of fact, the first 4 games all ended 25-23. The Macerata team has 7 Italians and one player each from Czech Republic, Serbia, Croatia, Poland, Holland and Brazil. Macerata is currently in 4th place (out of 14 teams). It's very tight: 4-7th place is separated by only 2 points. The team we beat last night is currently in sixth. If you're really interested, check the leader board.

Yesterday's post was mostly pictures. Today, reflections on news.

U.S. presidential primaries are often the subject of the news. I was asked yesterday by our restaurateur friends whether I thought Clinton or Obama would be the next president. They seemed surprised to find that the election would not be until November, and that it was possible that neither of the two might be elected. The idea of a primary seemed odd to them. The newspaper understands primaries, but it may be a little esoteric for many.

It was pretty big news here that the Pope was protested against. The Pope had been invited to speak at the start of the academic term at the University of La Sapienza. A group of science faculty calmly voiced their protest. Their contention was that the church's history was anti-science, reminding everyone of Galileo's treatment, and that the current pope was no promoter of scientific advances. The faculty protest was picked up by more radical voices who marched, demonstrated, etc. The Pope responded by saying that he wouldn't go if he wasn't welcome and opted not to go last week. At the Pope's weekly address to the crowd Sunday, he characterized himself as a victim of censorship and encouraged academics to be open-minded. St. Peter's Square was estimated to have 100,000 people, mostly there in a show of support for the pope.

The possibility of an American recession and its impact on world stock markets was a big story yesterday, and from this morning's news will probably be once your market opens later today. I just wish the exchange rate would get a little better.

Of course it's big news here that we may be on the verge of a new government. The current majority seems to have dissolved. I believe there will be a vote in Parliament tomorrow. In case you don't know, the PM in Italy is determined by the majority in Parliament. Because there are more than two parties, it is quite rare that a single party has a majority, so they must form alliances with other parties. When there is discord between the parties over any major issues the coalition can fall apart, which means the PM loses the majority.

And finally, the trash situation in Naples continues. There is some relief but still there is much that has not been removed. The issue continues to be where to put it. Landfills across Europe are filling at an alarming rate and no one wants to take anyone else's stuff. If I were a entrepreneur I would be interested. There is going to be a major need to deal with this, which is only going to increase.